Solstice’s Grandmother’s Pierogies!

Solstice’s lovely grandmother, Oma, took the time to type out her recipe for Pierogis for me. I fixed it to make it more readable but it is her recipe I used and it was worth the 7 hours it took me to make these. I have enough leftover to feed a small army tho. ;D

Ingredients:
Potato Filling —
* 1 c grated cheddar cheese
* salt and pepper
* 4-6 medium potatoes
* 1 tbsp finely diced onions
* 2 tbsp butter

Dough —
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 egg
* 1 tbsp butter, melted
* 1/2 cup water

Directions

* Step #1 Make the Potato Filling.
* Step #2 Cook the onion in 2 Tbsp butter until tender.
* Step #3 Add onions and the cheese to hot cooked potatoes and mash thoroughly. (I used a ricer.)
* Step #4 Spice up to taste with salt and pepper.
* Step #5 Set aside. Let cool to about room temperature before using.
* Step #6 Make the dough.
* Step #7 Mix 2 cups flour 1 tsp salt in a deep bowl.
* Step #8 Add egg, 1 Tbsp melted butter and enough water to make medium soft dough. (start with 1/4 cup)
* Step #9 Knead on floured board until smooth.
* Step #10 Divide dough into two parts – Cover up and let this stand for at least ten minutes.
* Step #11 Roll dough thin on floured board – about 1/16th of an inch
* Step #12 Cut dough into 2-1/2 inch squares. (I cut mine with a 2in round biscuit cutter)
* Step #13 Place a spoonful of filling on each square – fold over to form triangle.
* Step #14 Press edges together with fingers – wet one half of the edges to help the dough stick.
* Step #15 Place pierogi on floured board and cover with a damp tea towel to prevent drying.
* Step #16 Drop a few pierogies at a time into large quantity of rapidly boiling salted water – do not cook too many at a time. (I did about 6-8 of them at a time in a large pot)
* Step #17 Stir carefully with wooden spoon to separate and prevent from sticking to bottom of pot.
* Step #18 Continue to cook for 3 – 4 mins — Pierogi is ready when it begins to float or is well puffed.
* Step #19 Remove with perforated spoon to colander and drain thoroughly.
* Step #21 Place in deep dish, sprinkle and toss generously with melted butter and lightly browned onions in butter. (I sauteed them for another 2-3 minutes until they got a good, light golden crust on the outside)
* Step #22 Serve with sour cream and/or sliced crisp bacon.

I love these. I made entirely too much filling and had to make the dough recipe 4 times over before I ran out of filling tho. That was my fault because I also did another filling that Bean had given to me to do. Apparently, he was using me as a guinea pig however because he told me to record what I did. Here it is.

1/2 a cantaloupe, finely diced
3 1/4 inch slices of proscuitto, finely diced then fried til crisp
7 sun-dried figs, rehydrated in honey water, finely diced
1/2 the container of crumbled bleu cheese

I just mixed all those things together and stuffed the pierogies the same way that Oma does the potato ones. With this filling plus the potato filling (1/4 of which I set aside and added half a jalapeno to) I had way too much filling and not enough dough so I ended up making the same dough 4 times. By the last time though, I was really good at it and I also was lucky enough to have Carter’s help rolling it out.

Photos here:
Prosciutto – diced and sauteeing

Cantaloupe:

Figs rehydrating:

Potatoes with jalapeno:

Dough rounds:

Dough + pierogies:

Prosciutto/Melon mixture:

Potato and cheese:

Kielbasa sausage (served with it):

Completed Prosciutto Melon:

Completed Potato Jalapeno:

Completed Potato Pierogies:

Time for the frying pan!

I am so exhausted. I hope this post came out ok. Much love to Solstice and his Oma for the recipe!! It tasted just like it did when I was a kid! 😀